CWB Commissioning Ceremony and Commissioning
Arrangements

After years of hard work, the project team has overcome countless difficulties and challenges and finally enabled the CWB to accomplish Stage 1 Commissioning on 20 January 2019 and Full Commissioning on 24 February 2019!

Numerous guests attended the Commissioning Ceremony held on 19 January 2019, including the Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr Frank Chan, the Director of Highways, Mr Jimmy Chan, etc. The officiating guests conducted the bar-pulling ceremony, which signified the CWB’s commissioning. Since then, the road network on the northern shore of Hong Kong Island had entered a new era.

The East Vent Shaft (“EVS”) under the Central and Wan Chai Bypass and Eastern Corridor Link (“CWB”) is located at the end of the eastern breakwater of Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter which is the heart of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island facing Victoria Harbour. To make it the key attraction of the Victoria Harbour and blend in with the surrounding environment, the Highways Department held a series of roving exhibitions in 2010 on the exterior design of the EVS to collect public opinions. In addition, the Working Group on Waterfront Development in Eastern District under the Eastern District Council organized an Exterior Design Competition of the EVS of the CWB in 2011 and the creative and aesthetically pleasant designs raised by the public became key design ideas of the final design of the EVS. As the EVS will soon be completed and put into service, the project team held an EVS Switch-on Ceremony at the works site of the CWB in North Point on 25 October 2018.The project team invited the district councillors of the Wan Chai District Council and Eastern District Council to participate in the event so as to thank the district councils for their continuous support over the years. The design features, operation and functions of the EVS was also introduced to them in order to demonstrate the efforts of CWB in urban development and beautifying the environment.

The project team held “CWB Community Planting” on 21 September 2018 to introduce the CWB project’s effort in urban development and preservation as well as promoting the message of greening and sustainable development to participants.

The project team invited Chairman of the Wan Chai District Council, Mr Ng Kam-chun, Stephen, BBS, MH, JP, Vice Chairman of the Wan Chai District Council, Dr Chow Kit-bing, Jennifer, BBS, MH, members of Wan Chai District Council, Ms Lee Kwun-yee, Kenny, MH and Ms Ng Yuen-ting, Yolanda, MH and Assistant District Officer of the Wan Chai District Office, Ms Hayley Lau to lead approximately 30 primary school students in Wan Chai District to participate in the seedling activity along the seafront of Victoria Park Road, so as to learn through entertainment and put urban greening into practice.

The second round of CWB roving exhibition is launched today

The first round of CWB roving exhibition was successfully held at Queensway Government Offices High Block (Deck floor), Revenue Tower, Wan Chai (Ground Floor) and North Point Government Offices (Ground Floor) and received positive feedback from the public.

The second round of CWB roving exhibition is launched from today (18 September 2018) at Kornhill Plaza (Ground Floor), Quarry Bay to enhance public understanding of the CWB project. The exhibition introduces the benefits, construction methods, engineering challenges and characteristics of the CWB project through display panels and videos. Members of the public are welcome to visit for free. The schedule of the second round of roving exhibition is as follows.

Schedule of the Second Round of Roving Exhibition

18-22 September 2018:

Kornhill Plaza (Ground Floor), Quarry Bay

1-5 October 2018:

Fitfort (Lower Ground Floor), North Point

15-21 October 2018:

Central MTR Station

29 October - 2 November 2018:

Central Community Liaison Centre (Under footbridge at Man Yiu Street)

12-16 November:

One International Finance Centre (Main Course)

The project team held “CWB Commissioning – Upcycling Workshop” on 14 April 2018 (Saturday) to introduce the CWB project and relevant environmental protection measures as well as explore the new environmental trends. Nearly 30 primary school students in Wan Chai district were invited to join the workshop and engaged in used T-shirts upcycling and canvas painting, so as to give waste a new purpose with their creativity and protect the environment in daily life.

Mid Autumn Festival was coming. CWB project team organised “CWB Elderly Home Visit” for the elderly at Po Leung Kuk Wan Chai Home for the Elderly cum Day Care Centre for the Elderly on 16 September 2017, so as to show our care for them. On the event day, the project team chatted with the elderly and played interactive festival games with them to share the joyful and warm moments.

“CWB Remote Control Car Racing Competition” was conducted on 6 May 2017 successfully at Wan Chai Activities Centre, with an aim to let students experience the traffic condition at Hong Kong Island (HKI) nowadays and understand the importance of constructing the CWB. 20 teams of secondary students from the northern shore of HKI were selected to participate in the competition. All the students enjoyed and actively participated in the game.

“SR8 Checkpoint Challenge” was held in Victoria Park on 29 October 2016, with the participation of around 40 secondary school students from Wan Chai District. During the activity, participants were required to complete a series of tasks related to the CWB project. By completing the tasks, the participants were able to learn the importance of building the CWB, challenges encountered by the project team during construction as well as the ways to achieve sustainable development.

A series of workshops entitled “SR8 Mini Garden Jamming” were designed for primary school students in Wan Chai District to convey the concepts of greening and sustainable development under the CWB project. Three sessions of workshops were held at Central Community Liaison Centre on 23 June 2016, 30 June 2016 and 7 July 2016 respectively, with the active participation of 100 students and teachers from 5 schools. During the workshops, students not only had a lot of fun by making their own mini garden but also learned about the importance and difficulty of transplantation of the affected trees in Victoria Park. 

A slip road entitled “Slip Road 8” will provide motorists a convenient access from Tsing Fung Street in Tin Hau to enter the CWB heading to Central and Western District. As Slip Road 8 will pass through the northern section of Victoria Park, some of the facilities would be affected and needed to be reprovisioned, including the West Bowling Green. To celebrate the reopening of the West Bowling Green, the project team organized a “SR8 Bowling Green Reopening Fun Day” on 30 April 2016 for secondary school students in Wan Chai District to promote this healthy sport and convey the environmental and work safety message under the CWB project.

"Piece Together CWB” was an activity that held in November and December 2015 to enhance the understanding of Non-governmental Organizations (NGOs) on the CWB project. A total of 6 NGOs participated, included Hong Kong Family Welfare Society, Junior Achievement Hong Kong, KELY Support Group, Kids4Kids, Ten Percent Donation Scheme Foundation and Teach Unlimited Foundation, to assemble the “Piece Together CWB” artwork together with the project team using over 9,000 pieces of small building blocks. The final artwork has been displayed  in the Community Liaison Centre in Central. Welcome to visit!

An outdoor activity entitled “SR8 Checkpoint Challenge” was successfully held on 31 October 2015. A total of 46 students and teachers from 8 schools in Eastern District participated in the activity. On the event day, the project team led the students to apply engineering knowledge in order to complete a series of checkpoint tasks in Victoria Park. Through various challenging and interesting games, the students were aware of community development and current affairs. The activity also enhanced their understanding about sustainable development and construction site safety.

Experience Sharing on Construction Safety of the Central - Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link 

To facilitate the construction works of CWB, Slip Road 8 Information Kiosk in Victoria Park ceased operation since July 2015. For enquiries about the CWB, the public may contact the project team through the following channels:

1. Community Liaison Centres in Central and North Point (please refer to “Contact Us” for location)

2. 24-hour enquiry hotline (2512 6233)

3. E-mail (enquiry@cwb-hyd.hk) 

“An Engineer for Fun Program” was successfully held on 24 June 2015. Around 100 secondary school students participated in the activity. During the activity, experience sharing from the project team and interactive game sessions were arranged for students to enhance their understanding of the CWB project and to inspire their interest in engineering industry. The students appreciated the program for offering them useful information on the CWB project and inspired them through a fun and interactive way. The winning entries of the interactive game sessions were also displayed in the Central Community Liaison Centre from July to September. 

To enhance the public understanding of the CWB project and to introduce the measures undertaken by our team to strike a balance between development and conservation, a series of school seminars was organized for the secondary schools in Eastern District including Clementi Secondary School, Canossa College, The Methodist Church Hong Kong Wesley College and Man Kiu College sequentially since 15 January 2015. A total of 304 students from 4 schools participated in the seminars. Through the interactive sharing and discussion, the objective of the seminar was successfully achieved. Appreciations on the interactive format of the seminars and the informative sharing by the project team were also received from the students. 

The Eastern District Primary School Award Presentation Ceremony was held at Aldrich Community Hall on 15 December 2014. Eastern District Councillor Dr. Chow Kit Bing, Officer-in-charge of Causeway Bay Liaison Team of Eastern District Ms. Chan Kit Ming and the representatives of Highways Department, the Consultant and the Contractor were invited to be the award presenters. The winning artworks would be exhibited to the CWB site hoardings in Victoria Park.

“The Eastern District Primary School Drawing Competition” with the themes “My Environmental Road" and "Development and Conservation in Harmony" was successfully held in November 2014. With the overwhelming responses from the students, the judges including Eastern District Councillor Dr. Chow Kit Bing, Officer-in-charge of Causeway Bay Liaison Team of Eastern District Ms. Chan Kit Ming and the representatives of the Highways Department, the Consultant and the Contractor had selected the outstanding artworks from the impressive pieces on 17 November 2014. 

Breakthrough ceremony of the Mined Tunnel was successfully held on 15 October 2014. The Ceremony, which was officiated by Director of Highways Department Ir LAU Ka Keung, Peter, JP, Executive Vice President of Hong Kong AECOM Ir Charlton Wong together with Executive Director, Chairman of China State Construction International Holdings Limited Mr. Zhou Yong. The boring of mined tunnel was then completed successfully under the witness of the project team.

Slip Road 8 Information Kiosk was set up at Victoria Park.

Signing ceremony of Joint Health, Safety and Environment Charter of the Central - Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link

Project team joined the qigong session of Construction Safety Week 2014 and set a new Guinness World Record for the ‘largest qigong lesson’. 

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2011/08 - Tunnel Buildings, Systems and Fittings, and works associated with Tunnel Commissioning.

To introduce the CWB project to the public and to enrich the community with the concept of development and conservation, a series of school talks had been organized for the primary schools in Eastern District including Canossa School (Hong Kong), North Point Government Primary School (Cloud View Road), North Point Government Primary School, and St. Marks Primary School sequentially since 28 February 2014. About 670 students from 4 schools participated in the seminars. With vivid presentation and prize quiz, the students gained a better understanding on the CWB project and the concept on sustainable development, while the project team also seized this opportunity to reach out to the community

On 24 May 2013, the Highways Department invited tenders for the tunnel buildings, systems and fittings, and works associated with tunnel commissioning Contract for Central - Wan Chai Bypass. Tender period was closed on 30 August 2013. (Contract No. HY/2011/08)

Completion of Contract No.HY/2009/17 - FEHD Whitfield Depot Re-provisioning

Contract No. HY/2010/08 - Tunnel (Slip Road 8 Section) commenced on 21 March 2013

The Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Community Liaison Centre at Oil Street, North Point was moved to Gordon Road. 

Completion of Contract No. HY/2009/11 - North Point Reclamation

Signing ceremony of Joint Safety Charter of the Central - Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link

The Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Community Liaison Centre in Central was opened.

The Ground Breaking Ceremony of Contract No. HY/2009/15 - Central - Wan Chai Bypass - Tunnel (Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Section) was successfully conducted on 26 January 2011 at the eastern seashore of Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter. The Ceremony, which was officiated by Under Secretary for Transport and Housing, Mr. Yau Shing Mu, and other 4 officiating guests from Highways Department, Legislative Council, District Councils, and attended by other distinguished guests, signified the commencement of construction of this HK$5.4 billion contract as part of the strategic route project of Central - Wan Chai Bypass. The contract involves construction of the main tunnel section linking up the Rumsey Street Flyover at Central with the Island Eastern Corridor at North Point. 

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/19 - Tunnel (North Point Section) and Island Eastern Corridor Link

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/15 - Tunnel (Causeway Bay Typhoon Shelter Section)

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/18 - Central Interchange

Completion of Contract No. HY/2009/16 - Provision and Laying of Private Moorings

Opening Ceremony of the Central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link Community Liaison Centre at Oil Street, North Point

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/17 - FEHD Whitfield Depot Re-provisioning Works

Ground Breaking Ceremony of the central-Wan Chai Bypass and Island Eastern Corridor Link

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/11 - North Point Reclamation

Commencement of Contract No. HY/2009/16 - Provision and Laying of Private Moorings